Chapter 14: The Secrets beneath the Scales
Chapter 14: The Secrets beneath the Scales
Pre-read/Edited by: Edragon
“This is soooo not my day,” Twilight quietly grumbled to herself, the mare shaking her violet-maned head as she first flicked on the light switch, subsequently flooding her bedroom with golden light, and set the lock of her door into place.
There were a number of words that Twilight figured could describe her present mood, but none of them, she personally felt, seemed to be able to do her emotions justice. The unforeseeable events of the last two days, as anypony could imagine upon hearing her almost unbelievable tale, had turned her otherwise fairly normal and structured life of work, socializing, and study, totally and utterly upside down.
Of all the possibilities fate could have thrown at her, she’d been landed with three dragons, three roughly teenaged dragons, from a completely different world.
And now, after only having housed said dragons for two days, Twilight had to admit they were beginning to take their tolls on her scientific-reasoned sanity; one of them was now, despite how ludicrous it seemed, in a relationship with her assistant/little brother after barely getting to know him, and another’s mere presence, as she’d quickly discovered and was further witnessing, had a constant tendency to lead to chaos or the destruction of something.
The mare figured that if she had to describe the last two days in one word, it would be illogical. Why? Because if such a story, as that of the last two days, was told to somepony she’d only just met, Twilight figured they’d frankly call her crazy.
“Are you alright, my student?”
“I’m fine Princess,” the mare answered with a slight sigh, turning away from the now locked door, and giving her alabaster mentor a reassuring smile, as she noted the alicorn’s concerned expression. “These last two days have just been… well, something else, to put it mildly.”
Princess Celestia nodded in return, a small yet evident smile growing across her own ancient muzzle. “I’m sure they have been Twilight, though in all I would think it would be for the better; we all need a little bit of ‘something else’ in our lives now and then, even the likes of Luna and myself, and trust me when I say Sparx and his antics have quickly become quite the ‘something else’ around the palace.”
“I can imagine,” Twilight giggled quietly behind a politely concealing hoof. “By the way, what’s the story with the ‘suit of armor’ thing?” She asked.
“Well… let me just say that Sparx and I discovered that Blueblood has a severe phobia of talking insects.”
Both mares tried to keep a relatively straight face, they really and truly did, and even managed to do so for a few short seconds after Celestia finished; but, a few unstoppable sniggers, stinging red cheeks, and amusing mental images of a certain prince in hysterics over the presence of talking dragonfly later, the student and mentor pair broke down into fits of filly-like laughter.
“Oh, forgive me Twilight,” Princess Celestia managed as she regained control of herself, a golden-shoed hoof still on her lips. “I really, really shouldn’t be laughing at such things… but seeing Blueblood’s face… it truly made my day, I must admit.”
“Hehehehe, I can imagine why princess… anyway, what was it that you wanted to talk to me about?”
The regal alicorn’s warm smile, and likely her joviality all together, dropped and disappeared in a single heartbeat, and was replaced by the same uneasy look that Twilight had encountered downstairs only minutes earlier.
It was a look that Twilight had seen cross her mentor’s face a number times, a fair few over the last year or so alone in fact, and as such the unicorn knew that it could only mean one of two possible things; either Equestria was in state of some kind of dire peril, presumably at the chaotic clutches of Discord, Chrysalis’s insect-like hooves, or some similar unsavoury adversary. Or the more likely case, Celestia had simply discovered something she found concerning.
“Yes, my apologies for getting side-tracked. Now, Twilight… there is no easy way for me to ask you this, and I’m truly sorry that I have to in the first place, but for what I’m about to ask… I need you, as my faithful student, to give me a true and honest answer none the less; do you understand?”
Although she felt a nervous shiver run down her spine, and a tight lump abruptly form in her throat, Twilight nodded. “I understand princess.”
“Thank you.” Celestia replied, giving what was clearly a forced smile, as one of her front hooves repeatedly tapped the floor in apparent unease. “Twilight… do you believe that Spyro, Cynder, and Ember are a threat to Ponyville and its residents’ safety?”
For a moment, there was nothing in the room but complete and utter silence.
During this short period of silence, Twilight found herself abruptly slumping back on her haunches in shock, with her bottom jaw proceeding to work its way up and down a few times, before finally managing to articulate a coherent response.
“P-princess? W-what?”
The alicorn just sighed, closed her rosy eyes, and lowered her head so they were level. “Twilight, trust me when I say I hate putting you on the spot like this, but I need your opinion now more then ever.”
It was common knowledge amongst those close to royal sisters, and one of Twilight’s personal priding attributes, that Princess Celestia would often consider her opinion on certain matters. Whether she chose to act on those opinions or not was Celestia’s choice, but simply being looked upon by her mentor, one of the princesses none the less, as somepony intelligent and trustworthy had always brought Twilight great happiness and pride.
But given the nature of the words she’d just heard from her Celestia’s mouth, Twilight wasn’t sure she wanted her opinion heard this particular time round.
But, after yet another long moment of silent thought, Twilight sighed, stared at the wooden-slat floor, and ran a hoof through her now roughed-up purple mane as she vocalized her thoughts on the subject, aware that Princess Celestia was watching every movement of her muzzle.
“Do I believe they’re a threat to Ponyville? Frankly… no, no I don’t. Ember I can safely say isn’t a threat to anypony, not because she couldn’t hurt somepony if she really wanted to, but because her disposition is just too kind for her to do something like that; she’s the equivalent of a dragon version of Fluttershy in that regard. Spyro… again, he could very easily hurt somepony if he really wanted to, but given how respectful he is, and how he goes out of his way to get along with everypony… I can’t see him being anything of a threat. Cynder… uh, well, if you asked me five minutes after I met her, I’d say definitely… but now I can see she’s trying to fit in, and the fact that she’s become friends, good friends at that, with the Cutie Mark Crusaders… well, that speaks for itself.”
It apparently took a minute or so for her mentor to absorb and accept what she was hearing, but at last though, Princess Celestia, after what felt like an entire eternity to Twilight, smiled warmly and nodded in acknowledgement, apparently pleased with her student’s response.
Twilight in turn smiled back sheepishly, while mentally breathing an exasperated sigh of relief, perhaps the biggest of her life.
“Thank you, Twilight,” she said softly, reaching forward and nuzzling her lavender student affectionately along the cheek, the alicorn’s action gaining her a faint blush in response. “I will admit your words have put my troubled mind somewhat at ease.”
Twilight, nervously, chewed her bottom lip as curiosity got the better of her. “If it’s… not too much trouble, princess… why did you ask? Was it because of what happened downstairs?”
“Not… exactly.” Celestia admitted with a shake of her head. “Twilight, this will probably be a lot to take in, but please try to stay calm.”
Although now unsure of whether or not she wanted to have her question answered, given the tone of concern that had once again crept into Celestia’s voice, Twilight breathed deeply and once again nodded in acknowledgment, feeling mentally prepared for whatever potentially jaw-dropping revelation the princess threw at her.
“Twilight, from what Sparx has told me… Spyro and Cynder are unlike any other pair of dragons in existence, either of our world or their own. If I were to put this fact simply, it would be something like this; downstairs, at this very moment, there are two of the most powerful dragons their world possesses. Basically, Spyro is their world’s equivalent of an alicorn in terms of power, and Cynder, if what Sparx has said about her is true… was not that long ago something of a draconic version of Nightmare Moon.”
Correction: Twilight thought she’d been mentally prepared.
Generally, when subjects such as the magical potential of an alicorn came up in research, conversation, or even literature, fictional or not, it was a subject that was treated with both utter respect and awe. Such treatment was kind of an unsaid given, seeing as the three alicorns known to the world were all princesses of ponykind, and two of them had magic capable of the heavenly bodies themselves.
Similarly, Nightmare Moon’s mere mention, and the tale of how she’d tried to bring forth eternal night upon the land, brought chills to the even the bravest of pony’s spines, Twilight’s included. As such, the name ‘Nightmare Moon’ was scarcely ever used in instances of jokes or passing humour, lest said joke-teller wanted to be awkwardly gaped at.
Thus, upon finding out she virtually had draconic versions of such beings presently downstairs in her home, and temporarily living with her at that, an already confused Twilight’s thought patterns virtually imploded on themselves as her jaw nearly met the rug she was standing on… and then did meet it as Twilight’s legs gave out beneath her.
“They… but… dragon…. alicorn… Nightmare… bwah?!”
Princess Celestia quickly, though gently, reached out and put a hoof across the frazzled unicorn’s muzzle. “Be still Twilight. Listen, I know that you may feel uneasy about knowing this, but think about what you just told me? You and I both know that if either Spyro or Cynder actually wanted to truly hurt somepony, if not kill them, they could do so with virtually no effort whatsoever… but even when my guards tried to detain them, and rather forcefully at that, all they did was knock them around some, does that not say anything in their defence?”
“Well… yes, but why wouldn’t they have told me something this… this serious?!”
“Think about it Twilight, if their appearance in Ponyville has already led to issues, which I know it has, wouldn’t knowledge like that just make things worse? Look, I know you are wary of even the thought of such power, I am as well, but I ask that you judge them on their present actions, and not what they are or used to be… just as you did with my own sister.”
“So that’s why you weren’t… you know, really angry with them?” Twilight asked between dwindling nervous shakes, the mare gingerly removing her mentor’s hoof with her own as she calmed down.
“Yes my student.” Celestia replied, once again running her muzzle along Twilight’s cheek as she spoke. “And that is why I asked for your opinion on them; if you believed they were a threat to anypony, confirming my own fears, I would have removed them from Ponyville myself in an instant. But, if you have faith in them, then so do I.”
After a long moment, Twilight sighed and nodded in understanding.
“So… what about Ember then?”
Princess Celestia, in an action that rather surprised Twilight, just shrugged her shoulders unknowingly. “Ember is… just an ordinary dragoness according to Sparx. Apparently, he and Spyro met her on one of their past adventures, and they became friends of sorts… though he claims she had a crush on Spyro at the time.”
“Best not to tell Spike that.” Twilight giggled, Celestia joining in a moment later as the uneasy mood in room was slowly lifted.
“Indeed; hmhm, their relationship will no doubt be interesting to follow as it unfolds, young love always is.” Celestia said with a happy sigh, her eyes watching the ceiling, and her mind reminiscing over similar events that had long since passed. “Twilight, thank you for this, I truly mean it… after hearing what Sparx had said… I didn’t know what to think, but I knew I could trust your judgement.”
“You always can Princess,” the lavender mare beamed proudly, inwardly bubbling like a school filly. “So, um, should we go see what state my library’s in?”
The Princess of the sun, herself unsure of what she was about to ask, chewed her bottom lip.
“Actually… there is one more thing I would ask of you, Twilight.” She said tensely. “I want you to keep an eye on Cynder for me. Sparx has mentioned that she was cleansed of her darkness some time ago, and I don’t doubt that, given both your words and her behaviour towards me earlier… and yet… to this day, Sparx says she still somehow retains most of the abilities that the darkness bestowed on her. Such an occurrence, to me, raises questions about whether that influence is actually gone… or simply in a state of slumber.”
Twilight, despite the slight knot of fear that had suddenly formed in her stomach, nodded in understanding.
“Of course, princess.”
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
“What do you think they’re talking about up there?” Ember asked, her pink-scaled snout motioning towards the second floor, whilst her claws pushed the book she’d been holding back into its shelf. “You don’t think the princess would want to take us away, do you?”
Spike, despite the awkwardness of doing so whilst carrying an already teetering pile of books, just shrugged his shoulders.
The action, as Spike quickly came to realize, ended up causing the tower of literature to come precariously close to collapsing on top of him, and only didn’t do so thanks to prior experience, and some quick manoeuvring of his feet… straight into a pile of what had once been a mud cake, much to a certain purple dragon and gold dragonfly’s apparent mirth.
“I doubt it, Ember,” he answered simply in the end, silently cringing as he shook his left foot free of the brown residue. “Don’t take it personally or anything, but if word got out that she was keeping dragons in the palace, half the nobility would have a fit.”
“Really?” Spyro and Ember asked in unison, both sounding surprised.
“But weren’t you raised in the palace?” Ember continued, walking forward, and running her snout affectionately along his cheek.
“That’s true, but back then I was just a hatchling,” Spike sighed with a shake of his head, the words leaving something of bitter aftertaste in his mouth. “I hate to say it, but it wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest if most of them thought I was the princess’s pet or something.”
“Spike’s kinda right there,” Shining Armor threw in with a mild snort, a dozen or so books magically shelving themselves at the direction of white stallion’s glowing horn. “I’m not saying it’s everypony in Canterlot, but a lot of them have a real backwards way of seeing common ponies, let alone non-ponies; example, If I had a bit for every request the royal guard’s received to remove a non-pony from the market district, for no reason whatsoever, I’d be able to buy the palace. Another, we had a visit from the griffin ambassador a few weeks back to discuss the changeling situation, and the way some of the ‘nobility’ reacted… ugh, it was downright embarrass-OW! Spike! I’m your brother, not a step ladder!”
“Shining, you’re partly to blame for the state of this place, so deal with it.” Spike grunted back as he clambered up. “Plus the ladder got destroyed earlier.”
Shining Armor snorted as he face-hoofed. “I’m not even going to go there Spike, I’m too tired, and my head hurts enough as it is.” He replied with a small groan, quickly shooting Cynder a mildly agitated glare. “Thanks to someone continually firing those shrieking red… whatever those things were, at me.”
“Tried to kill you too then huh?” Sparx quipped. “Yeah, she does that.”
Cynder just rolled her eyes and flicked her bladed tail. “For the record, they’re called siren screams, and may I remind you, Shining Armor, that you’re the one who started this whole disaster, not me,” she said flatly, plucking a lone red book from the floor and pushing it back into the adjacent bookshelf. “Uh, anyway, looks to me like that’s last of them that are salvageable; I know they’re not in order or anything Spike, but at least this place doesn’t look like a battle-ground anymore.”
The ‘battle-ground’, as much as Spike had utterly hated to admit while standing precariously atop his brothers back in an effort to reach the higher shelves, was in perhaps the worst state it’d ever been in since he’d come to call the library home.
Up until only a few minutes ago, colourful patterns, made of the remnants of countless Sugar Cube Corner confectionaries, had covered nearly every square inch of wall, floor, rug, staircase, and ceiling his gaze came across. This rendered the library’s interior to look more like the studio of an abstract art-pony with a fetish for sugary food, rather than a place of book-loaning. On top of that, most of the furniture, or what had once been furniture, laid in smashed, wooden chunks and pieces about the floor thanks to Cynder’s tornado impression, with the majority of the library’s vast collection of books having suffered the same disastrous fate.
Still, it was nothing particularly new for the library, when you had friends who enjoyed ‘dropping by’ like Rainbow Dash, these kinds of things had a habit of happening every now and then; thankfully though, having friends like Rainbow Dash, amongst others, also meant having friends who’d be willing to help tidy up the subsequent aftermath.
Spike, along with Shining Armor, Spyro, Cynder, Ember, and the three crusaders had together handled the sorting, at times binning, and re-shelving of the library’s mountainous hoard of books; In turn, Rarity, Vinyl, Cheerilee, and Big Macintosh had seen to it that the destroyed furniture was rounded up and removed outside, while Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy, each armed with a mop and bucket, had taken it upon themselves to clean away the copious amounts of cake and alike that lay splattered in every direction.
The place didn’t exactly look brand sparkling new, but it sure looked a hay of lot better than a short time prior.
“Ah’ reckon she’s about done Spike.” Applejack yawned lazily as she came over, the farm-pony flanked by a tired looking Cheerilee, Pinkie Pie, and the three obviously exhausted filly crusaders, who were looking about ready to fall asleep at a moment’s notice. “And not a moment too soon either, pretty sure I’m gonna drop any second now.”
“You and me both.” Cheerilee mumbled, rubbing one of her tired green eyes with a hoof.
Pinkie Pie, in stark contrast to rest of the group, happily bounced along with her mop and wooden bucket held in her muzzle, and still looked as up and ready as ever. Did that mare ever run out of energy?
“Well that’s a relief,” Spike replied as he hopped down. “Thanks for sticking around by the way everypony, probably would’ve taken us a week to put this place back together.”
Applejack just chuckled and inclined her head. “No problem Spike.” She grinned, casting a cheesy smile towards Cynder. “That’s what friends are for, after all.”
Cynder just rolled her eyes again; that pony was as stubborn as anything.
“Anyway, I’d better be gettin’ this one back home,” the farm-pony went on with a nod to her heavy eyed younger sister. “Party or no party, she’s got another school day tomorrow, as do a certain pair ah’ dragons last I heard.”
“Make that annoying and stubborn.” Cynder groaned to herself, though she couldn’t help but smirk at the celebratory ‘Yay!’ the three fillies let out. “I guess so; meh, it’ll give me a chance to have some words with that Diamond brat anyway.”
“Cynder!” Ember hissed.
“I’ll be having a talk with Diamond Tiara about that letter,” Cheerilee jumped in quickly. “But please, let me handle it; I know you’re probably angry with her, and you have every right to be, but I think it’d be better if I dealt with this.”
“Ugh, alright, just as long as she doesn’t try and get on my nerves tomorrow.”
“I’ll make sure nothing happens.” Spyro reaffirmed, apparently noticing Cheerilee’s not-quite-convinced look of concern.
“Wait, wait, wait? You actually convinced venom breath here to do something social?”
The two dragons involved just looked between each other, and then face-clawed. “I swear Sparx…” Cynder muttered in defeat.
Either thankfully or not, it was at that particular moment, before the conversation could take anymore awkward turns for the worse, a loud wooden creak resonated from one of the doors on the second floor, the sound promptly plunging the room into silence, and causing everypony to stop what they were doing and look up.
Spike wasn’t sure how he felt at that moment, his green eyes watching intently as Twilight and Princess Celestia descended the stairs side by side, with neither teacher nor student saying so much as a word to each other, and Twilight looking perhaps mildly uneasy about something as of yet undetermined; whether her expression meant that something was actually wrong was anypony’s guess, but for the sake of being cautious, and not exactly trusting his own earlier words anymore, he quickly moved to Ember’s side.
Much to the young dragon’s surprise, and relief, Twilight’s face immediately brightened some when she looked around the now clean-ish room.
“Wow, you all got this done while we were talking?” She asked, gaining amused grins and nods from everypony and dragon in the room in reply. “Hehe, thanks everypony; looks like you’re off the hook this time Spike.”
“No need to tell me twice, cleaning up after just you is work enough.” Spike sniggered.
The room quickly resonated with laughter as Twilight blushed about as red as Big Mac, and sheepishly played with her hooves. Princess Celestia added her own quiet snicker as she recalled that particular, all too familiar, occurrence; the pure number of times she’d come across Spike trying to excavate Twilight, who was usually fast sleep of exhaustion, from a pile of books in the archives escaped even her memory.
“I see there are some things that will never change,” she sighed happily, taking a moments glance between the pair affectionately, before moving her eyes to the other dragons in the room. “Spyro, Cynder, Ember, I just want to say that I hope you will enjoy your time here in Equestria…”
“I’ll be making sure of it!” Pinkie Pie beamed as she bounced.
Ember and Spyro broke out in amused grins at the bubbly mare’s words, while Cynder quietly shuddered at the thoughts they gave rise to.
“I’m sure you will, and I also promise to have some of the best unicorns in Canterlot look into a way to get you home.”
“One would hope sooner rather than later,” Rarity spoke up. “I would guess they’re starting to miss their friends and family by now.”
“Actually, while we’re here, is there any chance we could visit Canterlot princess?” Ember asked. “It’s just that Spike’s made it sound like a pretty interesting place.”
Maybe he was dreaming, but Spike swore he noticed Rarity look away, and give off a quiet snort at Ember’s words, which ended up earning her something of a glare from Applejack.
“Were we having the same conversation?” Spike asked with an arched eyebrow, apparently voicing what everypony else was wondering. “That’s not really what Shining Armor and I said earlier. My friends or not, trust me when I say you won’t get a warm welcome from the public up there.”
“Relax Spike,” Spyro chuckled. “We’ve faced down a lot worse than a few unfriendly ponies over the years; if we want to see Canterlot, we will, end of story.”
Celestia, though mildly surprised herself by the dragoness’s request, and a little disturbed by Spyro’s words, smiled and nodded. “You’re most welcome too, just have Spike send me a message in advance if you wish to stay the night, and I’ll have some of the palace’s guest quarters prepared for you.”
“And I’ll be sure to tell Cadence, so if you do come up, make sure you drop by and see us.” Shining Armor threw in, wearing something that could be described by an observer as a cheese-eating grin. “She’s going to want in on this, and she’s definitely going to want to meet my little brother’s girl.”
“Shining…” Spike groaned; why were older brothers always such a pain in the tail?
“Aww come on Spike, you two totally look adorable.” Rainbow Dash teased, promptly dropping to the floor behind the two dragons, and, before either could react in the slightest, smooshing their faces together. “And that’s coming from me of all ponies.”
Celestia giggled quietly. “I must agree with Rainbow Dash on that regard Spike.”
Despite being covered in a layer of scales, Ember’s face went from pink to deep crimson in a heartbeat, while Spike felt his own cheeks begin to sting underneath his purple scales.
“Plus, this is just me thinking out loud here by the way princess,” Shining Armor continued without missing a beat. “But I’d bet Cynder and Princess Luna would bounce sparks of each other.”
“What?!”
“Say what about me now?”
The dragoness’s and dragonfly’s combined confused annoyance, despite the obvious seriousness in their words, simply caused nearly everypony in the room to descend into another round of giggling and laughter, much to the further frustration of said dragonfly at being left out of the loop.
Nearly everypony, however, didn’t include Twilight so much; she wore a smile all the same, but her mind though brought up very different emotions as her eyes ran over Cynder. The recently acquired knowledge that the violet-black dragoness in front of her had once been corrupted by darkness, much in the same way as Princess Luna had been, was frankly scary enough as it was, but the added thought of part of that darkness, possibly, still silently residing somewhere deep inside her…
It wasn’t exactly something she could bring herself to laugh at.
“Nopony needs to know, I… I just have to keep an eye on her, that’s all.”
“True words if I ever heard them.” Celestia said with an incline of her head, snapping the purple unicorn out of her stupor. “Alas though, my subjects, Shining Armor and I must leave you all and return to Canterlot, I once learnt the hard way that you can’t manage an entire country while heavily sleep deprived, and I have no wish of having to go through a day like that ever again; besides, I’m guessing you are all rather tired as well?”
As if attempting to answer for everypony present, Sweetie Bell abruptly yawned, immediately causing everypony and dragon laugh again; Twilight, despite her still raw unease at the knowledge of Cynder’s past, sighed as she shook her head free of her prior hauntings, and quickly became included among them.
Tomorrow would no doubt be another interesting day.
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instantly featured :P
Bounce sparks.
This is probably my favorite chapter yet. I had started to get bored of reading this story, but that was before the battle scene. I like the way that you had Rarity scoff at Ember. I can't imagine what would happen when they do have to return to their world, but that's a major 'if'. At the time, we can't determine if Celestia will let them stay in Equestria. And if she does, we won't know if she will only let one of them stay. But if they do return to their own world. Will Spike still be loyal to Ember or will he go back to trying to get Rarity.
I thought of all of this because Rarity scoffed. I may have over-thought it.
I stillsay the Spyro should give Spike fighting lessons.
these just keep getting better
Love the new chapter. Keep it up.
MORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Okay, so Rarity is jealous of Ember, and if Princess Luna and Cynder met, it would be interesting, to say the very least.
But the possibility that Cynder's darkness might take control of her again...
Here, have some badges. Rarity has no choice but to let me use her badge, otherwise her secret's sure to slip.
fc08.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2011/282/e/5/twilight_sparkle_approved_by_ambris-d4c255h.png
fc05.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2011/282/7/5/rainbow_dash_approved_by_ambris-d4bdn33.png
fc00.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2011/345/0/9/fluttershy_approved_by_ambris-d4ivleb.png
fc04.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2011/345/9/d/applejack_approved_by_ambris-d4ivlan.png
fc05.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2011/277/e/a/pinkie_pie_approved_by_ambris-d4brtm4.png
fc02.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2011/282/4/e/rarity_approved_by_ambris-d4cdq6y.png
fc03.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2012/060/f/5/princess_celestia_approved_by_ambris-d4rftlj.png
And some music to celebrate the love between Spike and Ember is in order, I believe.
Later!
Hmm... I wonder if Luna has any leftover powers from her corruption?
I mean, it's not something she'd want to go spreading around (Oh, and just so you know I can still shoot lightning/turn into smoke/whatever even though I'm good now), but that doesn't mean it's not there.
Either way, I'm seeing some definite Pseudo-Angsty Bonding in the future.
2946473 My hardcore pegasister friends believes Nightmare Moon still exists, and is biding her time. She also believes Chrysalis and Nightmare Moon might be one and the same, due to both having the ability to shapeshit.
2946641 Shapeshitting would be an... unusual ability. Not sure why she thinks that though. (Personally, I think that if they were one and the same, Chrysallis would've probably been better off possessing Cadance. Less room for error.)
I wonder if Celes'd have a different opinion on the corruption if she knew that Spyro temporarily fell after being subject to intense despair after loosing his mentor?
And that both he and Cynder were able to restore each others sanity? Or that Malefor was the only reason Cynder fell at any time after Spyro literally beat the curse out of her?
2945619
Look up the ending to dawn of the dragon, Cynder tells Spyro she loves him.
2945185
I'll admit that the chapters before the battle-scene were mainly relationship and character building chapters, and now we're getting into the main storyline.
Will Luna and cynder end up meeting up? They are pretty similar in a lot of ways. And next chapter, I wanna here about spyro going to school.
2945121
my fav is pop fizz in giants, his potions are just so fun to throw at people!
Poor Spike...
2946473
She still has a lot of them.
Shapeshifting is still there and she can call lightning from the sky easily. I think that Luna can at least mimick any power she had as NMM.
2945314 you pissed me off so much in kingdom hearts
2948910
He probably read
off the Spyro wiki for Cynder making it sound like they have the same mother.
2949448 It's not my fault I'm a badass.
2948910 I have A New Beginning for GBA, and Ignitus said they came from the same clutch of eggs. Which means they're siblings.
2947996
You have done great work! Too many people rush there stories which ruins the enjoyment of it.
63k words in this and only 2 days have gone by?
Last month I have been slowly losing interest in FIMFiction but this keeps me here.
If Spyro and Cynder are mates then they should've already kissed by now.
2950929yeah but ....... your mean >.<
2955171 Have you ever seen a nice badass, because I sure haven't.
2951509
The word clutch, as far as I know, means the eggs of one 'season' or 'year' (so Spyro and Cynder eggs were laid, and they hatched, in the same 'year').The other thing is that at the end of D.O.T.D, Cynder tells Spyro she loves him, and the Spyro wiki also states Cynder's relationship to Spyro as 'Boyfriend'.
2955392 As far I was aware, "clutch" meant a group of eggs laid by the same animal.
And according to Google, "clutch" means "A group of eggs fertilized at the same time, typically laid in a single session and (in birds) incubated together"
2956599>>2955392 strictly speaking, both of u r right, as 'clutch' can be used both ways...depending on the context..
2977943 Still think they're siblings.
2999435
You can thank Edragon for that one
that guy and his one liners... 
2999963 please make it where applejack KNOWS rarity did something or derpy says something while applejack is around about the letter to shining. please BITCH needs to get slapped.
was so hard to read this haven't slept for like three days and i kept dozing off throughout the chapter and even got a few mental images of what was transpiring none the less great chapter can't wait for more but for now sleep
3015022
Enjoy your sleep mate
trust me, I've gone four days on ten hours sleep, I know how you feel.
3015295alas though now i'm reading again and am fully awake
You know what I like best about this?
I know jack about Spyro. But I'm really enjoying it.
3015295 4 days with 10 hours sleep? Me 3 days with 7 hours
Kitten demanes to be petted every moring and causes me to have a asma attack
Still can't wait till the next chapter
I don't know much of the spyro series but I know enough so it isn't confusing and with cynder being my favorite character in it all makes this story highly enjoyable truly cant wait for the next chapter and to find out where the story leads. I AM NOW OVERFLOWING WITH ANTICIPATION SO PLEASE HURRY!!!!
3122685
It's currently with the editor, so... early next week-ish maybe.
3172359
I know, but Ember is Ember, she doesn't do slow or subtle too well.
3472680
Spyro and Cynder are from LOS: dawn of the dragon. Ember is from A Hero's Tail.
Cynder has (if that's what you're inquiring about):
Poison: venom/scorpion strike
Fear: siren scream/phantom fright
Wind: cyclone/twister
Shadow: shadow strike/shadow fire
3472754
that was I was referring too.
Also, there's a web comic that fits in with some of what you've got, its a bit long, but broken into chapters.
Spyro's Back
Original /Prequel
A New
Chapter 1 Page 1
3476048
Oh god! I remember reading Spyro's Back when I was looking for pics of Ember
you can kinda see where I got my characterisation from.
3476497 When is this next chapter? If you pls?
3516971
My editor, Edragon, currently has it, and from the last message I got from him he indicated he's mostly done... but I haven't heard back from him in the last two weeks (despite sending him 3 or so PM's to ask if he's alive).
I'm guessing he has university exams or something of the alike, so I can't give you an exact date, but hopefully soon.
3517201 Allright thanks
Ever time Cynder is described as a "violet dragoness" I keep reading "Violent Dragoness"
3719819
That is also accurate
Opening up with a few chuckles at Prince Blueblood's expense - and I'll take any jabs thrown at that prick (Humor: +1) - we get Celestia's reason for calling Twilight aside: She wants to know if Twilight trusts Spyro, Cynder, and Ember, or if they could be a threat to Ponyville.
Well said, Twilight.
Of course, Sparx has already told Celestia about Spyro's adventures and of Cynder's time as basically a dragon Nightmare Moon, which Celestia now tells Twilight. And, despite having faith in the three of them, Twilight is asked to keep an eye on Cynder just in case.
Switching scenes to the others downstairs, everyone is helping to clean up the library, shelving the books that can be salvaged. One would think Twilight would know a repair spell to fix the books.
.........Y'know what? This chapter's so short I can summarize it all here: They clean up the library, our dragon friends are invited to Canterlot - provided they give 24 hours' notice - Spyro and Cynder have a day of school to go to the next day, and then they all leave for a good-night's sleep. Maybe there's a few quips from Sparx and Shining Armor, the latter dropping that Luna and Cynder may get along pretty well as has been raved on by the comment section for the last 13 chapters......Yeah. Not a lot going on here.